Monticello, Indiana

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Since 1976, this modern take on a courthouse building, demonstrating several iconic features of 1970s architecture, has served as the White County Courthouse in Monticello, IN. Ted Shideler, a member of the Delaware County Historical Society Board and native Hoosier blogger, attributes the blocky, “fortified” architectural design to the fate of the previous building, which was completely demolished by the 1974 Super Outbreak. The three story building, newly designed by Longardern and Associates, cost the city $2.4 million to build. Many of the funds necessary for construction were acquired via federal aid, which assisted the city in rebuilding the majority of its downtown area. The 1976 building is unique in that it has two cornerstones: one to mark its own establishment, and one to commemorate the historic building it replaced.

Just one block away from the courthouse (head East on W. Broadway Street) is Tornado Memorial Park, a small area designated to remember the losses that were a result of the tornado–the loss of material goods, as well as the lives of eight residents, five of whom perished when a bus was thrown from a bridge over the Tippecanoe River. According to Thomas Grazulis, the tornado that struck Monticello was actually part of a family of three tornadoes. Luckily, the people of Monticello were warned ahead of time (something that was not true of many of the affected areas), leading many to seek shelter and saving many lives. The memorial also serves as the only physical memorial to the catastrophe in Indiana, making it doubly special both for who it represents, and that it is one of a kind. A donation from Wells Fargo and the local historical society, combined with the creative minds of Purdue University’s 2004 Landscape Architecture graduates, made this small memorial possible. The green fountain is one of the few surviving items from the original courthouse, and has found a new home here, in Memorial Park.